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I have been thinking of moving out of state but I am a little torn on where I want to go. The cities I’m considering are LA, Chicago, Charlotte NC, and Raleigh NC. I’m coming from Rochester NY and looking to find a place where I can build my life around after recently graduating college. Here are some of the more important things I’m looking for in a city:
Solid music scene. This is an important factor to me. I am an extremely musical person and I look to start a band wherever I go. I would like to be in a city that has a scene conducive to growing a band and playing out locally.
Somewhere that will be conducive to growing my career. I just graduated college with a Bachelor’s in New Media Marketing. Right now, I freelance and would like to continue that/build my own web marketing company. I look to target midsize companies.
Low Rent. I’m looking to keep my rent down as cheap as possible for now until I get acquainted with the city and build my income. I would like to keep the rent under the $800 mark either for a 1 bedroom or studio apartment. But preferably closer to $600. Really, the cheaper the better.
Warmer climate. Coming from Rochester I’m looking to go somewhere that has a warmer or more mild climate. I’m fairly sick of long, cold, snowy winters like Rochester has.
Large young population 20-30 (I’m 24)
I picked the listed cities because they meet some of the criteria listed above. LA and Chicago both have good music scenes and there’s lot of opportunity there music wise. However, both have their negatives. LA has very high cost of living/rent and Chicago has cold winters which I’m looking to avoid. As far as landing on Raleigh and Charlotte, I have thought about moving there before. I thought about going to college in Raleigh but ended up going to a local university. I like the warmer climate of North Carolina and both cities seem to be on the up and up. Both cities seem to have solid job markets, lower cost of living, and a young, growing population. However, my biggest concern with these two cities would be their music scene and opportunity to grow a band locally.
Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. Maybe someone has an opinion on which would be best? Or for those that live or have lived in any of the listed cities can you touch on a few of the points? Thanks in advance!
I have been thinking of moving out of state but I am a little torn on where I want to go. The cities I’m considering are LA, Chicago, Charlotte NC, and Raleigh NC. I’m coming from Rochester NY and looking to find a place where I can build my life around after recently graduating college. Here are some of the more important things I’m looking for in a city:
Solid music scene. This is an important factor to me. I am an extremely musical person and I look to start a band wherever I go. I would like to be in a city that has a scene conducive to growing a band and playing out locally.
Somewhere that will be conducive to growing my career. I just graduated college with a Bachelor’s in New Media Marketing. Right now, I freelance and would like to continue that/build my own web marketing company. I look to target midsize companies.
Low Rent. I’m looking to keep my rent down as cheap as possible for now until I get acquainted with the city and build my income. I would like to keep the rent under the $800 mark either for a 1 bedroom or studio apartment. But preferably closer to $600. Really, the cheaper the better.
Warmer climate. Coming from Rochester I’m looking to go somewhere that has a warmer or more mild climate. I’m fairly sick of long, cold, snowy winters like Rochester has.
Large young population 20-30 (I’m 24)
I picked the listed cities because they meet some of the criteria listed above. LA and Chicago both have good music scenes and there’s lot of opportunity there music wise. However, both have their negatives. LA has very high cost of living/rent and Chicago has cold winters which I’m looking to avoid. As far as landing on Raleigh and Charlotte, I have thought about moving there before. I thought about going to college in Raleigh but ended up going to a local university. I like the warmer climate of North Carolina and both cities seem to be on the up and up. Both cities seem to have solid job markets, lower cost of living, and a young, growing population. However, my biggest concern with these two cities would be their music scene and opportunity to grow a band locally.
Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. Maybe someone has an opinion on which would be best? Or for those that live or have lived in any of the listed cities can you touch on a few of the points? Thanks in advance!
Durham right outside of Raleigh. Lots of IT and marketing, music scene in Durham is solid, Rent in NC is going to a lot lower than LA or Chicago,
You are thinking too much about rent in terms of where you live. This all depends on COL and you should be concerned about your salary in each city and percentage of your income that the rent is. $1200/month may seem a lot to you in a place like Chicago or LA until you realize that you would be earning a lot more money there versus Rochester, NY and the percentage that $800/month is in Rochester, NY might be the same as $1200 in LA or Chicago.
My top two suggestions would be Chicago and LA, but since you don't like the cold (Chicago doesn't get even close to as much snow as Rochester, NY for the record) then I'd go with LA
You are thinking too much about rent in terms of where you live. This all depends on COL and you should be concerned about your salary in each city and percentage of your income that the rent is. $1200/month may seem a lot to you in a place like Chicago or LA until you realize that you would be earning a lot more money there versus Rochester, NY and the percentage that $800/month is in Rochester, NY might be the same as $1200 in LA or Chicago.
My top two suggestions would be Chicago and LA, but since you don't like the cold (Chicago doesn't get even close to as much snow as Rochester, NY for the record) then I'd go with LA
I don't know if it is worth counting on this to be true. Los Angeles is not a particularly high-wage city, though perhaps working at the local fast food joint will get you a higher pay rate than in Raleigh because of CA's higher minimum wage.
However, I have never heard of Charlotte or Raleigh having great music scenes. I am sure there is a local scene that is decent, but doesn't break through to national exposure - for instance, I can't think of a single Charlotte/Raleigh band/artist or record label but I can think of hundreds for LA and Chicago.
Los Angeles is very expensive, though the benefit of LA is that you can live in a marginal neighborhood (East Hollywood, Mid-City, Westlake), be close to the action, and pay about as much as you would for an average neighborhood in Chicago. In that way it is different than the United States' other uber-expensive cities, San Francisco or New York.
This is a tough choice. Seems like every city is missing some criteria. Why not Austin, TX? Seems like it fits all of the criteria.
^ Well, the point is that the wages in LA are going to be a lot more than Rochester, NY for this type of industry. I know what the OP is saying, but it depends on how much money they're making in the first place.
Austin might be a good choice, but not sure about the marketing industry there. Marketing in Chicago is basically #2 behind NYC. I think LA and San Francisco are both up there. I don't think Austin's marketing is nearly as good as the cities just mentioned.
I don't know if it is worth counting on this to be true. Los Angeles is not a particularly high-wage city, though perhaps working at the local fast food joint will get you a higher pay rate than in Raleigh because of CA's higher minimum wage.
However, I have never heard of Charlotte or Raleigh having great music scenes. I am sure there is a local scene that is decent, but doesn't break through to national exposure - for instance, I can't think of a single Charlotte/Raleigh band/artist or record label but I can think of hundreds for LA and Chicago.
Los Angeles is very expensive, though the benefit of LA is that you can live in a marginal neighborhood (East Hollywood, Mid-City, Westlake), be close to the action, and pay about as much as you would for an average neighborhood in Chicago. In that way it is different than the United States' other uber-expensive cities, San Francisco or New York.
This is a tough choice. Seems like every city is missing some criteria. Why not Austin, TX? Seems like it fits all of the criteria.
Charlotte/Raleigh has a sold amount of bigger artist but nothing like L.A obviously. Jodeci, Kc and JoJo, Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, Tori Amos, Fantasia, J Cole, Ben Folds, Anthony Hamilton, Kellie Pickler, James Taylor, and Randy Travis are the ones I can remember. There old Jazz musicians but they arent relevant to what we are discussing. The music scene in Durham is pretty solid but wont hold a candle to Austin, LA, or Nashville. Have you looked at Nashville and Austin?
^ IMO national touring artists are almost moot with this while they're on tour.. When an artist is touring, they aren't living in that city. They're on the road in tons of different cities. So saying that a music scene (for a listener) is amazing because some guy who's been on tour for 10 years lives there isn't saying a ton. You could say that San Francisco is great because Metallica is there until you realize for maybe 3 years they've been in SF for a grand total of a month and tons of cities around the world have hosted them playing. IMO what matters more for a listener are not only the local acts, but how many venues there are and the variety of music that can be booked (and also quantity).
A city like LA with a huge music industry has enough artists where you'll have a lot of them not touring at the same time. Walking into some random venue and seeing a famous artist in an intimate setting would be a lot more of a reality there than a Charlotte or Raleigh.
Last edited by marothisu; 07-08-2015 at 11:36 AM..
^ IMO national touring artists are almost moot with this while they're on tour.. When an artist is touring, they aren't living in that city. They're on the road in tons of different cities. So saying that a music scene (for a listener) is amazing because some guy who's been on tour for 10 years lives there isn't saying a ton. You could say that San Francisco is great because Metallica is there until you realize for maybe 3 years they've been in SF for a grand total of a month and tons of cities around the world have hosted them playing. IMO what matters more for a listener are not only the local acts, but how many venues there are and the variety of music that can be booked (and also quantity).
A city like LA with a huge music industry has enough artists where you'll have a lot of them not touring at the same time. Walking into some random venue and seeing a famous artist in an intimate setting would be a lot more of a reality there than a Charlotte or Raleigh.
I agree I was just saying it is there and you can make it but thats why I also suggested Nasville and Austin since they fit the bill of what he is looking for. Durham in NC is going to be his best bet if he is looking more towards the SE for the weather and cost of living and not choosing Nashville or Austin.
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